Online Video Poker

All American Payback

All American Video Poker

It was pointed out long ago that the payoffs for Jacks-or-Better didn't seem to jibe with the final hand probabilities. With optimum play, the Straight, Flush and Full House all have very nearly the same frequency of occurrence in Jacks-or-Better, yet the payoffs are 4-, 6- and 9-for-1, respectively. Why not equalize the payoffs for hands with nearly the same probability? Well, All American does just that, and you can see the result. The optimum strategy (see below) changes dramatically, causing the probabilities of these three hands to be more as we would expect in live poker. It just goes to show that it's hard to predict the effects of payoff changes.

The enhanced paybacks on the Straight Flush, Flush and Straight more than make up for the reduction on Two Pair, but optimum strategy to achieve maximum payback is complex and not intuitive. Most recreational players find the game too difficult to play successfully, and because casinos are reluctant to offer unpopular games, All American is often hard to find. Perhaps to boost interest in the game, Ballys has put All American on some Bally GameMaker machines with quads paying 50-for-1 instead of 40-for-1. This adds 2.25%, making it one of the highest payback video poker games available.

The strategy below is applicable to both versions and should allow you to take optimum advantage of this game. This is a complex strategy, and successful play will require both practice (tutoring program suggested) and concentration, as there are several playable hands unique to this game that can be easily overlooked.